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news without borders
Winter weather wreaks
havoc across US, Canada
WASHINGTON: A wintry blast
of ice and snow coated US and
Canadian roads on Monday,
causing deadly car pile-ups and
snarling air traffic as travellers tried
to get home for the holidays.
At least five people died as ice
storms cut power in some parts
of the United States, multiple-
car wrecks were reported in
Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois
and chilly temperatures and
blustery winds forced residents to
bundle up.
Drivers blinded by blizzard
conditions created a 30-vehicle
pile-up on Interstate 94 in western
Michigan that killed a 31-year-old
man, media reports said, while
dozens of vehicles collided in a
briefs
Passengers evacuate
Singapore ferris wheel
SINGAPORE: More than 100 pas-
sengers stranded for six hours on the
world’s largest ferris wheel were being
series of other wrecks and spinouts
nearby.
The fierce weather, which
coincided with the official arrival of
winter on Sunday, was blamed for
the death of two people in a single-
vehicle crash on Interstate Highway
80 east of Des Moines, Iowa.
Another weather-related fatality
was reported in northwest Iowa
when a farm tractor being used
for snow removal slipped off the
driveway and overturned, killing
the driver, the Des Moines Register
newspaper reported.
Due to the danger, the nearby
state of Minnesota temporarily
banned the use of snow plows until
the thick of the storm passed.
The ice made roads slick as far
evacuated and given medical treat-
ment in Singapore after the attraction
ground to a halt yesterday.
The Singapore Flyer stopped working
after a short circuit in one of the wheel’s
motor drivers cut its power supply, a
company spokeswoman said.
The wheel started turning again
more than six hours later and the 173
passengers were ushered into ambu-
lances, a witness said. – Reuters
Can’t get a copy of
Log on to www.sun2surf.com for more details
south as Texas, where a 44-year-old
grandmother was killed in Dallas
when her car slid off a road, local
reports said.
The National Weather Service
said Bismarck, North Dakota was
on track to break a 1916 record for
snowfall in December.
The city has received 19 inches
of snow so far in December and,
with more snow on the way, could
shatter the last record of 21.7
inches.
Canada may see its first
countrywide white Christmas since
1971, meteorologists predicted.
Environment Canada issued snow
warnings across the country and
winter storm watches in Northern
Ontario. – AFP
Hole in oneself – golfer
hit by bullet
JAKARTA: An Indonesian golfer
was hospitalised after being hit by
a stray bullet from a nearby army
shooting range, reports said yester-
day. Albert Saputra, 17, was taking
part in a junior golf competition
in the city of Tangerang when he
was shot, local newspaper Koran
theSun
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Coup attempt in Guinea
after president dies
CONAKRY: A group of soldiers
launched a coup yesterday
in the west African state of
Guinea, hours after the death of
strongman President Lansana
Conte at the age of 74.
The mineral-rich country
was left in turmoil as the
coup plotters said they had
suspended the constitution and
dissolved all state institutions
while the government insisted it
was still in charge and ordered
them to stand down.
“The institutions of
the republic have shown
themselves to be incapable of
resolving the crises which have
been confronting the country,”
Capt Moussa Dadis Camara, the
coup’s frontman, announced on
state-run Radio Conakry.
However Prime Minister
Ahmed Tidiane Souare urged
the coup plotters to back down,
saying he was still in charge.
“I do not know these people
who have spoken. We are trying
to settle this question of national
Tempo reported. The high school
student was waiting to tee off
when he complained of a burning
sensation in his back. Onlookers
noticed blood seeping through his
shirt. – AFP
Fiji and NZ expel
ambassadors
WELLINGTON: Relations between
| WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 24 2008
importance,” he told French
radio.
“I am sure that they will see
reason. They have not used
force. There has been no threat
against anybody.”
Parliamentary speaker
Aboubacar Sompare, who under
the constitution should replace
Conte, urged soldiers to oppose
the insurrection.
“There is indeed an attempted
coup d’etat. It’s a minority of
soldiers and officers who have
taken this action. The vast
majority is loyal,” he said.
Conte, who ruled the
impoverished but mineral-rich
country with an iron fist for 24
years after also taking power in
a coup, died late Monday after
“a long illness” aged 74, state
television announced.
Soon after his death was
announced, army officers
ordered the population to “stay
at home” and said a military-
civilian council had “taken
effective power”.– AFP
New Zealand and Fiji’s military regime
sank to a new low yesterday with the
announcement they would expel each
other’s ambassadors.
Despite assurances by Fiji on
Monday that it was trying to improve
relations with New Zealand, acting
high commissioner Caroline McDonald
was summoned to Fiji’s foreign affairs
ministry yesterday and told she had
one week to leave the country. – AFP